Antonio Gramsci famously called for "pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will": the one the spur to action, the other the resilience to believe that such action will result in meaningful change even in the face of adversity.

Optimism was judged to be a general and stable dispositional resource that influences whether an individual will stay focused on reducing discrepancies between present behavior and a goal or standard selected for pursuit.

Optimism significantly predicted rate of recovery, such that optimists were faster to achieving behavioral milestones, such as sitting up in bed and walking, than were pessimists, and were rated by staff members as showing a better physical recovery.

The chief disadvantages of situational optimism measures are two: they change from study to study, depending on the stressor, and to the extent that a stressor is differentially interpreted or experienced as stressful by virtue of social class, the meaning of situationally optimistic expectancies may be unclear.

The term optimism as thus extended would also include "meliorism", a word first used in print by Sully to designate the theory of those who hold that things are, indeed, bad, but that they can be better, and that it is in our power to increase the happiness and welfare of mankind.

As optimists are to be reckoned: Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, St. Augustine, St. Thomas and the Scholastics, Leibniz, Kant, Fichte, Hegel (sought to unite optimism and pessimism), Lotze, Wundt.

Optimism as a philosophical term means that the universe as a whole is good and that man's ultimate destiny is one of happiness.

Optimism 7: Despite the fact that she is in effect trapped in the Annexe, not allowed outside for fresh air and restricted in their movements and food intake, Anne realizes frequently how lucky they really are to be in hiding, compared with all of the other Jews who are being killed in concentration camps.

Optimism 8: Though she has just witnessed an act of wartime violence, and heard news of more of the same, they are still able to break the tension, and laugh at each other and themselves.

Optimism 20: Anne's optimism comes in part from the goals which she hopes to achieve once they are out of hiding, such as being a journalist.

It turns out that there is data that supports optimism and hope as having a positive impact on individual health, mortality, and coping; as well as predictingpositive outcomes in a variety of situations.

The test that measures optimism is strongly correlated with reported use of particular coping strategies such as emotional regulation strategies (sublimation, humor, and anticipation) and strongly negatively correlated with avoidant coping strategies (such as fantasy, acting-out, repression, projection, hypochondriasis and passive-aggression).

Optimism was also found in some studies to improve health and lead to substantially better illness outcomes and longevity; while pessimism was found to predispose to illness and to increase mortality.

To cohere to the logic of optimism, we can never be optimistic about things that are certain, for if we had perfect knowledge of all things past and future, optimism could never be.

We may be optimistic of success in all of our endeavors, or optimism may represent the likelihood of a positive outcome of a specific performance, or even aspects of a performance.

However it may be argued that optimism and its various metaphorical offshoots such as 'flow', 'intrinsic motivation' and the like are all aspects of the same thing, and may derive naturally from contemporary definitions of reinforcement or reward that are rooted in our very biology.

A major objective of this essay is to clarify the nature of a type of optimism appropriate to a rational extropian philosophy, and to distinguish it from the very superficially similar attitude of faith common to religions.

Optimism and pessimism involve not detached estimates of the objective probability of good and bad events in the future, but personal commitments to certain modes of thinking and behaving.

Optimism benefits health in four ways: First, by replacing a sense of helplessness with a feeling of control, optimism boosts the immune system.

Optimism, as defined by Webster's Dictionary is "the tendency to take the most hopeful or cheerful view of matters." It is a belief that things work out for the best.

The opposite of optimism is pessimism: the view that things work out for the worst, and that events are to be seen in their most negative and critical light.

Optimism and pessimism about the future are the ultimate extension of such "self-fulfilling prophecies." A person who makes the pessimistic prophecy that "today is going to be a lousy day" will probably act so negatively, defensively, and suspiciously that it will tend to create the "lousy day" he or she predicted.

A description of Dynamic Optimism, which is a combination of philosophical understanding and psychological knowledge, as theorized by Max More, Ph.D. The construct of "dynamic optimism" focuses on overcoming limits to achievement and happiness.

USATODAY.com - Study: Optimism does not improve cancer(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07)

Optimism made no difference in the fate of most of the 179 cancer patients that Australian researchers followed over five years.

The study found that optimism dimmed when patients experienced the toxic effects of cancer treatment and when they learned more about the realities of the disease.

"We should question whether it is valuable to encourage optimism if it results in the patient concealing his or her distress in the misguided belief that this will afford survival benefits," the study's lead author Penelope Schofield wrote.

But, still, enough optimism to act was required, and in the developed world today, the justification for pessimism is more infrequent.

Regardless, the specifics he has spent his life researching concerning optimism, pessimism, their consequences, and our ability to affect our explanatory style seem extraordinarily important to anyone interested in teachers, students, learning and schools.

What Ive become is what I call a "flexible optimist." I can recognize the situations which call for optimism, and the situations which dont call for optimism need a mercilessly realistic view of whats going to happen.

When I make that separation, if its one of the many situations in which the optimism skills are going to pay off, then I throw in my whole complement of optimism skills.

On the other hand, the cost of failure can be very large, such as getting into an affair which will lead to divorce if your spouse finds out, or, as a pilot, having another drink at a party before a flight.

Optimism can be measured in several ways, including a questionnaire or by listening to patterns of speech.

Next up are two experts in what might be called "applied optimism," studying how optimism fits in with all kinds of life events and activities.

Peterson, who has extensively studied the relationship between optimism and overall health, says that pessimistic young people are less likely to grow into healthy adults, and more likely to die prematurely.

www.lcmedia.com /mind298.htm (1219 words)

Hughes for America: Optimism(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07)

That hope, that optimism, is what I think draws people to the Democratic Party.

Perhaps the most common misinterpretation Republicans make is that we Democrats are nothing more than a frothing, angry bunch with little more guiding us than a seething hatred for their party and their president.